it was a beautiful and unique event after many months of anticipation. —— hello, from ray castle hill at windsor castle. a wonderful spring setting for the royal wedding of prince harry and meghan markle. it was a beautiful and unique event after many months of anticipation. this proved to be the perfect setting for the moment a very modern royal marriage was formed. over the next half—hour we will be bringing you the highlights of the day, starting with the arrival of a star—studded guest list. the bbc‘s dermot o'leary, kirsty young and huw edwards take up the story. haven't the a—listers turned up at the same time? that was extraordinary, wasn't it? george and amal clooney, you can't underestimate the sheer star wattage. so, members of the royalfamily making their way down. they know what's in store. it's a happy service. it is a service of celebration. they are enjoying the crowds outside. there we have the mother of the bride being greeted at the south door. making herway in. we have seen

a cross—section of guests. people from the world of music and sport, people from entertainment. they are all there. they are all waiting. while it is not their sunday best, it is certainly their saturday royal wedding best. next time we see meghan again it will be when she arrives at the west door. waiting for her in the choir will be herfuture husband, prince harry, and the best man, of course, the duke of cambridge. just chatting and exchanging a few little words of reassurance and advice. they look around slightly nervously, but then, we completely understand that. once st george's chapel was full and the guests and groom had taken their places, it was time for the bride to arrive

in spectacular style. meghan‘s dress was made by a female british designer and when it was revealed it was quite a moment. exquisitely cut, and in many ways, and minimal and traditional dress, with a splendid veil. meghan markle, the bride, is wearing her hair up. a wave for the crowds. an utterly exquisite dress. you know what i like about it, it does what i said, it fuses that sophistication and chicness that meghan brings to her outfits, but it has that real romance, it is beautiful. trumpets herald. soloist sings ‘eternal source of light divine‘. orchestra plays. soloist sings.

harry and meagan, the vows you are about to take are to be made in the presence of god, who isjudge of all and knows all the secrets of our hearts. therefore, if either of you knows a reason why you may not lawfully marry, you must declare it now.

harry. will you take meghan to be your wife? will you love her, comfort her, honour and protect her? and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live? i will. crowds cheer outside. meghan, will you take harry to be your husband? will you love him, comfort him, honour and protect him? and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live? i will. crowd cheers outside. and will you, the families and friends of harry and meagan support and uphold them in their marriage now and in the years to come? all: we will.

choir sings. the late dr martin luther king once said, and i quote, "we must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love, and when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world." but love, love is the only way.

there is power in love. don't underestimate it. don't even over—sentimentalise it. there is power. power in love. # so darling, darling, stand by me # stand by me # stand by me # stand by me. # if the sky we look upon # should tumble and fall # and the mountain # and the mountains should

crumble to the sea # i won't cry, i won't cry # no, i won't shed a tear # just as long as you stand, stand by me # so darling, darling, stand by me # 0h, stand by me # stand by me, stand by me, stand by me # whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me?# harry and meghan, i now invite you to join hands and make your vows in the presence of god and his people. i, harry. take you, meghan. to be my wife, to have and to hold.

from this day forward. for better or worse. for richer or poorer. in sickness and in health. to love and to cherish. till death us do part. according to god's holy law. in the presence of god. i make this now. i make this vow. i, meagan, take you, harry. to be my husband. to have and to hold. from this day forward.

for better orfor worse. for better or for worse. for richer orfor poorer. for richer or for poorer. in sickness and health. to love and to cherish. till death us do part. according to god's holy law. in the presence of god. i make this vow. heavenly father, by your blessing, let these rings be to harry and meagan, a symbol of unending love and faithfulness, to remind them of the vow and covenant which they have made this day.

throuthesus christ, our lord. amen. meghan, i give you this ring. as a sign of our marriage. with my body, i honour you. all that i am, i give to you. and all that i have. i share with you. within the love of god. father, son and holy spirit.

harry, i give you this ring. as a sign of our marriage. with my body, i honour you. all that i am, i give to you. and all that i have. i share with you. within the love of god. father, son and holy spirit. in the presence of god and before this congregation, harry and meghan have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. they have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and

receiving of rings. i therefore proclaim that they are husband and wife. singing god save the queen. once harry and meghan had shared that first kiss as husband and wife, it was time to greet the thousands of well—wishers who had lined and they were rather blessed that the sun kept shining as the new duke and duchess of sussex were driven through windsor in a horse—drawn carriage. commentator: prince harry makes his way in and helps his new wife into this ascot landau that they've chosen for this carriage procession. a lovely open carriage, perfect for today. god save the queen plays.

the national anthem being played for the new couple to make their way through the lower ward and then they go up towards the great round tower of windsor castle, past st george's chapel there and waving to the 2000 or more people that were specially invited and included in this lovely event today and of course watched keenly by smiling members of the royal family including the queen. and the duke of edinburgh who is here today, just a month after some surgery on his hip so people are very pleased that he was able to make it for this event. look at the waves and look at the smiles and really,

the relief. everything has been prepared in great detail for this procession. the last probably the best part of half an hour, every inch of this procession has been planned. you will see something, not just the colour, not just the style, not just the pageantry, but an impressive show for the world to see. this is going to be the first time that members of the public outside the castle walls, the definitely more than 100,000 that was estimated who have come out to see them, get a chance to see the new duke and duchess of sussex. a word about the travelling escort because it's always a great sight. the household cavalry. they really are so impressive on all occasions. we have two officers and 2a soldiers involved in the travelling escort. just looking at them now, you know, happy and taking in all the enjoyment of the day and i think it's normal as well at this point as we see them here,

newly married couple, ready to embark on this fantastic journey back to windsor castle. they do see their future very strongly within the commonwealth. prince harry is going to be a commonwealth youth ambassador. as they turn onto the long walk for the beginning of what really is the centrepiece of this procession, and i think the commonwealth, we have seen touches of it all through the service. it'sjust going to be an extremely important part of their lives. i think we'll see them travelling a lot through the commonwealth. we do not know where their honeymoon is. i'd put an awful lot on the fact it's going to be somewhere in the commonwealth. the crowd are made up of so many people who have come out on, we reckon it's about 21 degrees with a light breeze here in windsor. and afterall this, i imagine

they'll have some sort of appetite. so the queen will host the reception in st george's hall in windsor castle for the couple and the guests of the congregation. the head chef of the royal household is mark flanagan and the main focus of the food will be that in season, for the most part food coming from kent, the garden of england of course, and norfolk. and the role of the military today so personal to harry. as we know, he has seen two tours of afghanistan. there are 250 members of the armed services who are involved in making sure that this splendid bit of pageantry is all it should be and they are many of them, servicemen that harry knows well and has served with. what a shot. the wedding was a mixture of the new world and the old world. a couple who embrace tradition while also stretching the boundaries of what is possible within the british royalfamily. and for meghan markle who started the day as an american actress and ended it as the duchess of sussex, this was a life changing moment.

and more than that, it was incredibly romantic. gospel music. good morning. with the world's eyes fixed on the uk on saturday, the weather certainly came up trumps. you and i know it is not always like this. but through this coming week, there will be more warmth and sunshine to enjoy but a few exceptions. those exceptions will be mainly today across parts of scotland and northern ireland. the weather front edging in, bringing breezy and cloudy conditions and occasional rain. with high pressure in the south and east, we go into the morning dry and for many, clear once again. there will be mist and low cloud in east anglia and the south—east. here, the coolest of the weather. three or four degrees in the countryside to start the day.

the mist and low cloud in the south—east will break up and burn back to the coast through the day but we will stick with the cloud across western scotland and northern ireland, particularly with outbreaks of rain. sunshine a bit hazy across northern and western areas. for the south, blue skies away from the coast. there could be some patches of mist and sea fog through the english channel. inland, light winds, could be a degree warmer than it was on saturday. as i said, sunshine a bit hazier further north and breezy. still pleasant in eastern scotland, only the small threat of a shower, 21 the high in the murray firth. northern ireland and western scotland, including the northern isles, always that bit cloudier, occasional rain but there will be dry weather, too. these areas into sunday night will turn wetter and the rain becomes heavier and more persistent but we will see skies clear through eastern scotland and down through much of england and wales with the risk of some mist and sea fog around the coast. temperatures by night not dropping as much as they have done recently. one good news for the gardeners.

the bad news is high pressure will still dominate through the start of the week so not much in the way of wet weather. plenty of watering of plants to be done. the wettest weather on monday confined to scotland and northern ireland. heavy, persistent rain to start the day but with that high pressure building from the east, it will nudge off westwards. so many of you, including eastern parts of northern ireland and much of scotland by the end of monday, dry, sunny and warm again. an outside chance across southern counties of england of a small thunderstorm or heavy shower. same too on tuesday. most will be dry. a bit more cloud on tuesday through scotland and northern ireland but not much in the way of rain. the only thing is, it may take us into slightly cooler air in the far north of scotland, whereas further south, we stick with temperatures in the high—teens and low to mid—20s. indeed through the coming week with high pressure generally dominant, ok, there's a small risk of one or two showers in the south but most places will stay dry with some warmth as well. bye for now. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika.

our top stories — the kiss that says we're husband and wife. prince harry and meghan markle take their vows in a ceremony they made their own. the bride was accompanied by ten bridesmaids and pageboys, in a service watched by millions around the world. eyed, harry, take you, meghan. and later in the evening, the new duke and duchess of sussex,